German workers 'most loyal in Europe'

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German employees are more likely than other Europeans to remain loyal to their companies and to stay longer on the job, a new study finds.

The average length an employee in Germany stays at one company is 11 years, the newspaper Welt am Sonntag reported, citing a new study conducted by the Institute for Employee Research (IAB) in Nuremberg.

As the German job market has become more flexible over the past two decades, the number of workers with contracts for a fixed timeframe has doubled, according to the study.

“Still, job hopping is not a phenomenon that affects the majority of employers,” Thomas Rhein of the IAB told the paper.

Employees reportedly remain true to their companies because of good wages and opportunities for development.

The IAB has monitored average lengths of employment in German companies since 1992. Twenty years ago, the average was 10.3 years, according to the paper. The rate dropped as the economy changed in eastern Germany in the years after reunification, but has been on a steady rise since 2000.

Rhein told the paper that he expects the current rate of about 11 years to remain relatively stable. According to the report, in other European countries there is more willingness to switch companies.